Lori

Thanks Wooly and Sue and everyone. I imagine customs is, in fact, very suspicious of anything appearing to be medicine related, even vitamins.  Sue: I have never read anything like that.  Though, I have to say I rarely use the product.  But, when you do need it, it works a treat.  I have had some dental surgery this week and the corner of my mouth is a bit raw.  A tiny pin drop of Neosporin at night really helps heal the area. It is just something I like to keep in the medicine cabinet.  Kinda like Hydrocortisone, which we can find here with no problem.

Thank you so much Pomme.  I have saved the link for investigation. Hard to believe that something so basic is impossible to find here.

Glad it sounds like you've got it covered Norman.  Crazy world. Yes, husband and I talked about how many bars and restaurants will not be able to survive this pandemic.  Very sad really. Am I alone in being very angry with the Chinese government?

Thank you Norman.  That appears to be a U.S. company that ships worldwide.  I was hoping I could find it in France.  My Mom could send it to me from the U.S.  It only costs around $2 there.  So, those prices were crazy, but I do appreciate you posting it for me.

BRAVO !!!  I am thrilled for you.  Be careful in the future.  We are always here if you need us.  Would love to see you post more often about your life here. Best wishes.

Yes, hope you are okay Norman. Have read about the new restrictions.  Considering the very basic masks and distance requirements are almost totally ignored in the town we live in, I have little faith. No one here enforces the rules.  I even see many vendors and restaurant staff with masks off while working. It truly angers me. 

Does anyone know if this product is sold in France?  It is a basic antibiotic pommade.  Something most households in the U.S. and Canada keep in the medicine box for any small scrapes or cuts. I asked at one pharmacy, but she didn't seem to know about it.  It is readily sold in the U.S. and all of Canada in any pharmacy or grocery store without prescription. I found Fucidine and have used that in the past, but it isn't the same thing. Thanks for any suggestions.

Renter's insurance (taken out by the tenant) is required in most all rentals.  This is not the same thing as GLI, which is taken out by the owner to cover him/her if the tenant doesn't pay rent.  Not sure if you mean GLI or Renter's insurance.  Two separate things. Renter's insurance is relatively inexpensive in France.  You can get free quotes from all the major companies in France online.

I've seen that comparison chart.  I had to laugh.  I've also seen other comparison charts that are totally different.  Also read articles where recovered, confirmed COVID patients described their symptoms.  All over the map.

I'm glad your employer is trying to help you.  Did you also contact the agency from the earlier link?  They are specialists in this kind of problem.  I think you would have more impact if they intervened.  If you have already moved out and there was no état des lieux, you must still have the keys?  I don't think she is required to give you back anything until the état des lieux de sortie is completed and you have given back all keys, etc.  Keys are not normally returned until AFTER this is done. So, of course, if she is not being reasonable, she will attempt to put this off as long as possible.  I think there is some sort of rule/law about how long a landlord or tenant can wait (or put off) to complete the état des lieux de sortie.  I haven't looked it up, but I'm sure there are rules.  Be sure you have a copy of the état des lieux d'entrée with you when you eventually do complete the one for sortie.  Also, if you do still have the keys, I would make a visit to the apartment to make sure no one else is living there - AND - to take pictures of the state of the apartment for your dossier.  When you say "the name on the contract is wrong" what do you mean by that?  Who's name is wrong - yours or the landlords?  If the lease was drawn up by an agency, sometimes the agency will note the owner's name in the lease, yet note that payments and financial transactions are to be handled by the agency (named also in the lease).  I believe you said you made your rent checks payable to a person, not an agency right?  So what name on the lease is wrong and how do you know it is wrong? Whether she has spent the money or not, she owes the 10 months to you.  The illegality of the entire procedure is what will make this more challenging than a normal 3 year lease. In order to pursue her, you will need legal assistance.  Contact the agency noted above in the thread.  They can intervene or get you connected to legal organizations who can help you at little or no cost.  She is unlikely to respond to anything but contact from legal entities.

Yes, there are several as EuroT says.  Be aware though that they too are very picky about the documentation they will accept.  And they all charge various fees. Banks also have guarantee accounts for tenants.  However, this process can take up to 60 days to complete with your bank and they too are quite picky.  This would normally require you to deposit the equivalent of the first year's lease into this "special guarantee account" at your bank.  And there are fees for this too.  We had started this process with our bank, but ended up finding a landlord who didn't need this.

Sadly Catalpa, while we were living in the South of France (for 13 years), many of our friends suffered very similar unpleasant experiences with non private rooms. At that time, husband was working in the middle east and we had private (round the world) medical coverage through his employer.  So, I did not ever have CPAM or the need for a mutuelle during those years.  Quite different now that husband has retired this year. During the time down South, our daughter had to have two slightly minor surgeries.  We were fortunate that she was given a private room on both occasions and we chose a private hospital (the same one) for both surgeries.  However, as you say, care and hospitalisations are quite different from one country to another.  I've never forgotton my hospital stay in Athens, Greece (or the care leading up to the birth).  I felt I could write a book about that experience.  In the end, I went into labor, but baby's head never turned to the birthing position.  Plus, doctor was on a Greek Island for a medical seminar for the next two days.  So, they put me in the private hospital (that was planned for all along), put me in a suite that was like an apartment.  It had two bedroom areas, two bathrooms (one for the patient and one for her husband/partner) and a kitchen corner.  It was lovely.  They put me on medication to stop the contractions until my doctor could arrive (3 days later). Then, doctor decided he did not want to try to turn the baby (cord was wrapped around her neck).  So, C-section it was.  The day before the surgery, the doctor said depending on who was the Anesthésiste on call the next day, would determine whether I get a General or an épidurale.  Apparently, he did not trust one of them.  So, I ended up with a General; probably better all the way around. My American friends were always mortified that when visiting the GYN in France, you totally disrobe and usually right in front of the doctor.  No drapes or exam robes to put on.  You is just nekked.  Even my American GYN doctor was shocked by this..... Ha ha.  Now, those of you who have managed to trudge throught this entire post, know far more about me than most people... Yes, Nick, the costs are not small change.  And there is SO much to read about basic and mutuelle coverages, it gave me a headache on multiple days.  Edit:  Oh I should add (since this is about insurance), the private hospital where our daughter was born (Mitera) did not accept our insurance (which we knew would be the case), so we had to pay for my care and stay in cash and file the forms to our insurance company).  We were a bit petrified how much it would be.  Turned out the be the equivalent of 3000 U.S. Dollars.  Husband brought a brief case full of cash to the accounting dept. at the hospital.  We still laugh about that.

Welcome to France ! Shocking as it is, especially in the entire Paris region, this is VERY common.  I'd say that, for us, about 90% of all owners or agencies wanted a complete dossier just to view a rental.  That is a LOT of private detail and we absolutely hated giving it to them.  I can assure you that if you don't send all the data - OR - if they don't like what they see, you will never view the rental.  I can't tell you how many dossiers we sent and never heard back a word.  We were staying well below the 30% threshold of income to rent and have a very strong dossier.  If you are looking in the Paris region, good luck.  It can be he**. Edit:  I should add that if any of your documents are not in French, you will need to have them officially translated as no one would accept our foreign documents (unless the owner spoke and read English).  Also, if the owner has an insurance policy (GLI) to cover him in the event of a tenant not paying rent, it is the insurance company that will have to accept your dossier (after the owner sends it to them - if HE was willing).  These insurance companies RARELY ever accept any foreign documents - translated or otherwise).  Just a warning so you know.

Thank you Norman.  Some of our devis's did note an age limit.  However, the Groupama devis very clearly noted there was NO age limit.  Their offer seemed much less riddled with rules (other than the obvious ones you can't avoid).  Sue - you have suggested exactly what my husband suggested.  Put the 150€ aside each month (instead of paying Groupama) for heath costs.  At the end of the first year, re-review to see how we feel.  We did - and still are  - discussing maybe taking only hospitalisation cover.  Yet since neither of us has ever been in the hospital (except when I had our daughter), even that is hard to imagine. Judith - we are thinking like your husband thinks.  We'll see what happens after the first year ends.  We'll pay as we go if things arise during the first year. Thank you all !!  Your advice has been tremendously helpful.

Sorry for the layout.  It doesn't look like that when I edit it, but I can't seem to correct the layout here.

Yes, it is the same rates for us here. But, for example: The devis for my crown shows what the tarif de convention is, what my dentist charges, what's left for me and the R.O. which I presume is what CPAM reimburses.                                     Charges       Tarif de convention     A charge       Montant R.O. Depose old crown                   100,00                    38,70                  72,91              27,09 Temorary crown                      140,00                    10,00                 133,00               7,00 Inlay Core sous couronneceramique                                 340,00                    90,00                277,00              63,00 New crown & Pose                   790,00                  107,50                714,75              75,25 Sorry for the mish mash of languages.  I could not manage to copy this portion of the devis onto the thread.  Honestly, this is not a lot different from prices in the U.S.  However, 'most' private health plans cover 50% of the costs. Even when we lived in Provence many years back, the cost for a ceramic crown was 1000 euros. If we had the mutuelle that costs 1800 per year, it would pay 250€ total for the above work.  There is also a 300 euro desinfection work on top of the above.  He says CPAM and mutuelle would cover that.  But, we don't have a mutuelle so we'll pay the price....

Yes, I read about the 100% Santé.  I found it very vague with regards to exactly how much and to what detail things are covered.

Thank you Norman.  I'm sure I'll have more questions to come.  I've done a LOT of reading and yet some things are still not totally clear to me. One thing I see is that Dental and Optical care are not really covered by l'assurance maladie or so little covered as to be what I'd say is 'not really covered.'  It is looking like the hearing aid coverage is also poor to nothing.  It is very similar in the USA. Here, I am learning that even mutuelles don't cover these things very well either.  I suppose you could buy some sort of Mercedes Benz mutuelle, but I don't think I could afford such a plan anyway.  Not likely I'd use the money that way anyway.  So, the year when you need a crown, you simply set aside the cash to get it done.

Oh my yes Mint !  In the USA, doctors line their pockets with all kinds of money and pay-offs from pharmaceutical companies.  In the USA, there is a website where you can actually look up this information and see who is getting what from who !!  We looked up one of my husbands Urologists and in 2018, he earned $260,000 U.S. Dollars off various medical companies !!  That is more than some doctors (even in the U.S.) earn in salary in a year. It can be shocking and is now a matter of public record, for anyone who cares to look it up. I'm not trying to 'work the system' here at all.  I'm just not really interested in giving huge amounts of money to the insurance companies for little to nothing in return.  After all, even the lowest economical plan at130€ per month is 1560€ per year and in this region would offer us little in reimbursements (due to the high cost factor in this area).  After 5 years, that adds up to 7800€ The plan we were looking at will be 150€ per month = 1800€ per year or 9000€ after 5 years.  These numbers are, of course, not taking into account the annual premium/contract increases that will certainly take place. We have not spent even 5000 in any currency on health costs for either or both of us in the last more than 10 years. Hence our reluctance to do so now. Edit:  It is a tough decision to make.  We are leaning towards waiting until we have lived here one year and can review our out of pocket expenses before purchasing a mutuelle.  Also, we don't expect we will live in this region of France after our 3 year lease ends.  That can change things altogether.

Yes, I understand that about the Parcours de soins and that a MT needs to send you to other doctors (with the exception of the GYN and the Dentist - and a couple more that we never see) or you may only get reimboursed 30% or not at all. I'm really just trying to understand how the entire system works as it is quite different from anything we have had in our lives.  Hence some of my weird questions. Thank you for helping me.

Interesting and thank you for that.  I was told in writing there would be no délai de carence. I was told the policy would become effective the day after Groupama receives the signed devis and Attestation de Droits a L'Assurance Maladie.

Thank you Norman.  So, if I understand correctly, if you walk into a lab/doctor office and do not give your carte vitale (pay in cash) - let's say you don't have one, no one gets a copy of whatever you had done?  Except, of course, the lab or doctor and I have no idea if they would actually keep these records under this type of circumstance.

Can anyone tell me if a Médicine Traitant has access to all your records on Ameli?  Meaning he/she can see all your doctor visits (who you saw), treatments (what you were diagnosed with), prescriptions, etc.? Just curious how this works. Thank you.

Hi Sue:  as we live in Hauts-de-Seine, prices are much higher than most other parts of France.  So, we would not see much coverage at only 100%BR.  Groupama called me after I submitted my online quote request.  She was able to put together a module that works pretty well for us at a much better rate than the online rate.  Since we already have our assurance d'habitation with them, we got a better rate (that was what she told us anyway).  She sent us the quote and we've reviewed it.  It is 150€ per month for us both and has pretty good cover; well above the 100%BR One thing I want to ask you all;  we are very healthy people.  I might visit a doctor 3 times in a year - if that.  Husband is same.  These mutuelles are pretty expensive considering we might get 400 euros cover back based on our health costs over the last 5 or 10 years.  Also, here, unlike in the USA, you can take up a mutuelle and get same day / or at least next day coverage.  So, what stops healthy people from not taking a mutuelle and if they get diagnosed with something that is going to require regular health visits to take a mutuelle before beginning that treatment? I realize that would leave us with only Ameli if we came down with appendicitis or something, but beyond that it is something we have thought about.  Otherwise, it looks like we'll be paying around 1800€ per year for something that we may get 400 or so back for.  Seems expensive to me.  How did you all work this out? Thanks !

Yes, it appears you have to be in the system to access the providers in the Saveane program.   Not really a problem as those providers are somewhat less critical than the others (though certainly not unimportant).  Based on the estimates we are seeing, we are leaning towards Groupama. Will decide tomorrow. Thanks to all.